Predator 2
by Charles Xavier
Summary: When the galaxy's most feared alien hunter arrives in the hearts of Tokyo, Sakura must be ready to face the creature that craves for her skull as its trophy.
1. Meiling Vs Predator

Author's Note: This has NO relation to my first 'Predator' fanfic, so don't waste your time finding it. And if you haven't seen any of the Predator movies, don't fear! I'm sure this should fun reading anyways.

Disclaimer: CCS and Predator do not belong to me. They belong to CLAMP and 20th Century Fox.

…

**_Predator 2_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

…

"Show yourself!" She cried again, at the creature hiding itself within the shadows of the trees. The summer leaves began rustling wildly with the wind's icy voice, echoing around the deserted basketball field. The midnight sky of Hong Kong was concealed in thick storm clouds, ready to bring down its rain any minute. And it made Miss Meiling Li shiver in tremendous fear… "SHOW YOURSELF, GOD DAMNIT!"

Meiling's battle costume was torn and shredded. This mysterious 'thing' she had been fighting with for the last ten minutes, was certainly getting the upper hand. And how surprising it was for Meiling, for she'd never had this much hassle defeating one single enemy…but this one had the ability to turn itself invisible, and that just wasn't plain fair. The creature seemed far more intelligent and craftier than anything that Meiling had encountered before; it had already outsmarted her with its fighting abilities, which proved far too advanced for her to tackle. As a result, Meiling had been received with various bruises, cuts and scratches all over her limbs, back and body.

Although Meiling was worn out and still barely standing on her two feet, she still couldn't accept defeat and take the fact that this creature was too strong for her. Every move she had learned in her Kung-Fu lessons had only failed. This creature knew her moves too well, and was a very fast learner of avoiding her attacks. But nevertheless, Meiling wasn't giving up, and she positioned herself into another Chinese fighting stance.

The cloaked creature could see the large amount of body heat emitting from the eleven year old girl, in his monstrous vision. It silently crept up from behind, taking out its long sharp spear, ready to pierce it through its victim at any given second. But then, the creature growled.

Meiling turned her back and saw something moving behind her. Quickly, she jumped up and performed a roundhouse kick upon the creature, managing to knock away its spear out from of its hands. The attack also enabled Meiling to make the creature visible again. And she was just about to give the creature a second roundhouse kick, which was supposed to hit right into its face. However, the creature recovered fast from its first attack and immediately grabbed onto Meiling's foot, that was about to strike him.

"AAAAA!!!!!" Meiling screamed in unbearable pain as the creature squeezed her ankle in its firm grasp, twisting it at the same time. And when the creature had let go of her, Meiling dropped onto the ground. She tried to get back up again, but it was no use, for the pain on her ankle was so severe. The creature gave no mercy and pulled her up from the ground by her long black hair. "AAAA!!!" Meiling screamed again as the creature lifted her up. "LET GO OF MY HAIR, YOU BASTARD! LET GO OF MY…"

Meiling's was shut up when the creature kicked her hard in the stomach with its knee. But that wasn't the end, because right after that, she received a massive head butt in the face by the creature's solid and metallic mask that it wore. Meiling's coughed out blood and spat out a tooth, before being strangled by the neck and raised up high in the sky…she could fight no longer, and all she could do now was croak her last breath.

She had lost the fight.

"Grrrr…" The creature looked closely into the structure of its victim's skull. It looked at her cheek then turned to the other, and ignored Meiling's pleas. It was from there that the creature realized, by studying the human's skull, that it had come to this place to fight the wrong person. And therefore, Meiling was of no interest to it anymore.

"Clow…" It said…before tossing Meiling aside like a rag doll. "…Clow."

Meiling used her last bit of energy to raise her head up, only to see the creature pick up its spear, make its disappearing act and slowly vanish into the city streets of Hong Kong. Once she heard its footsteps beginning to fade away, Meiling passed out and dropped her head back down.

…

Author's Note: Short, I know. But this is only the beginning! Please review!


	2. Gathering

**_Predator 2_**

**__**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

****

_

* * *

_

_Hong Kong___

…

Two glass doors slid sideways open, when a young boy walked through the entrance of the hospital, making his way to the reception and avoiding all the doctors and nurses walking across his way.

"Nihao!" The nurse at the reception desk greeted the boy. "How can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Meiling Li." The boy replied firmly. The nurse began punching her keys onto her computer to search the name that boy had given her. It didn't take long to find it.

"Ah, yes. You must be her cousin, Syaoran Li."

"That's correct." Syaoran nodded.

"Yes, your mother came in earlier this morning and told me that you'd be coming." The nurse got up from her seat and left her position. "Please, follow me, Mister Li."

Syaoran followed her into a large elevator, where the nurse pressed the third floor button. The elevator's doors began to close.

…

A knock came from the door.

"Yes, come in." The voice of Mrs. Yelan Li spoke out, before her son entered the room. "Oh, Syaoran. It's you."

Syaoran saw his mother, sitting by a bed that was completely surrounded by all of his sisters…and they didn't look so happy, like they always did. They were looking very sad, or maybe in Syaoran's personal view, scared. Scared of the horrific sight they saw on the bed. They were so scared that one of them burst into tears, while covering her mouth. It was sickening...

Syaoran came forward as his sisters made way for him to see Meiling Li. The sight of her just made Syaoran nauseous…

"How…?" Syaoran's voice started to tremble at the horrific sight. He saw that Meiling had been bruised almost everywhere around her face, her cheeks swollen, her eyes blackened, and her head was bandaged up. Attached wires, cuts and more bandages and were seen around her pale white arms. Sleeping as she was, she looked almost dead. The rage that ran through Syaoran's blood nearly made him thirsty for that of the one who did this to her. "How in the world could this have happened to her?"

Yelan gave a deep sigh as she looked down upon the resting Meiling and stroked her forehead. "Do you really want to know?" She asked meekly, sounding as if she had no care for the poor girl sleeping beside her.

"OF COURSE I WANT TO KNOW! I'M GOING TO KILL THE BASTARD WHO DID THIS TO HER!" Her furious son yelled at his mother. The sisters all jumped up in fright from their short tempered brother. "I want you to tell me why this happened to her!"

His mother didn't give him a straight answer.

"No…I believe you know the answer to that." She said to him, but Syaoran gave a confused look. "Think Syaoran…think about the times you were with Meiling last. Did you notice anything odd about her?"

Syaoran thought and thought…yes. He did have some recollection of Meiling acting rather strangely. He remembered her being rather frightened one day…out of the blue. She kept bugging Syaoran about some monster she kept seeing in her dreams. Some monster she couldn't quite see clearly. And it came to his memory that just yesterday, Meiling told him something very disturbing…

…

_It was on a clear sundown during the late afternoon, when Syaoran and Meiling were walking through a park, back to their home. Though on the way, as they were walking past some trees, Meiling suddenly stopped when she heard a familiar sound._

_"Syaoran.__ Did you hear that?" Meiling looked up to the trees, holding onto Syaoran for dear life. "It's that same noise in my dreams I told you about.."_

_"What noise, Meiling? I didn't hear anything."_

_Meiling__ heard the creature growling at her._

_"It's here again." She said. Syaoran had no idea what his cousin was on about. "It's watching me, following me, haunting me."_

_Syaoran__ looked around the trees, but could see nothing but birds and squirrels scurrying about the branches. He thought maybe Meiling was pushing this issue a little too far. "Meiling, please calm down. There's nothing up in those trees."_

_"You don't believe me, do you?" Meiling snapped, pushing herself away from Syaoran. "Well, let me tell you something, Syaoran. For the last month, ever since we came back from __Japan__, I've been stalked by something…something I can't see, and I don't know what it is. It knows that I'm afraid, and it doesn't stop following me. And even when I try to ignore it, it still won't go away. It's as if it knows who I am, or what I am."_

_Syaoran__ didn't know what to say._

_"I bet you think I'm crazy." Meiling raised her brow. "Well, if you're not going to believe me, I might as well take care of this problem myself…tonight! You hear me, up there?! I'm going to take care of you tonight for good!"_

_Syaoran__ felt embarrassed when many of the people in the park began looking at his cousin yelling up at the trees._

_"And I don't need YOUR help if you think your own cousin is going nuts."_

_Meiling__ marched ahead of Syaoran in disgust. She didn't speak another word to him on the rest of the way back home._

…

"What was she seeing?" Syaoran asked his mother. "What was it that almost killed Meiling?"

"Killed, dear? No…" Yelan shook her head. "It mistook Meiling, for she was not the one that it was truly after."

"What?" Syaoran said. "How do you know so much about 'it'?" All his sisters were feeling the same way as him. They didn't know either why their mother sounded like she knew a lot about 'it'.

"Everyone in our family knows about 'it', dear. Stories about 'it' have been passed down in our family for many generations." Yelan realized now that she had to spill the beans on her children. She couldn't keep even the deepest family secrets from them anymore. "Oh, dear. I think you people should sit down and listen to what I have to tell you."

Everyone grabbed a chair and gathered round Yelan Li.

"I was afraid it might come to this, my children. I didn't want to tell any of you about this before, but I see now that I find it best that you knew. The one that attacked Meiling has been something that the Li family has feared for many, many years…"


	3. Clan Leader

**_Predator 2_**

****

**_By Charles Xavier_**

****

…

The sun was shining bright in the clear blue sky in Tomoeda. Sakura Kinomoto sat on the bench under the shades of trees, around her school's playground. Her friend, Tomoyo Daidouji was sitting next to her, filming with her camera yet again…

"Sakura-chan, how's your summer vacation been so far?" Tomoyo pointed her camera at Sakura, who was too busy licking a cone of vanilla ice cream. "Would you like to share something with us?"

Sakua smiled at the camera.

"Well, I can't say much." She shrugged. "Nothing's really happened since last month."

Last month…Tomoyo remembered that very well. That was the time when Sakura managed to claim the last Clow Card and save the city from mass destruction, but best of all, she had finally confessed her love over Syaoran… How happy she felt when she heard the news. Though unfortunately after that, Syaoran and Meiling had to return to Hong Kong. '_Things were just about to get good when they had to depart'._ Tomoyo thought.

"Oh, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry about what happened."

"Daidjoubu, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura replied. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Syaoran and Meiling will visit us again someday. And when that time comes, I'll be ready for them!"

"Soo desu ne?"

"Uhn!" Sakura nodded.

…

"So, are you coming to the slumber party tonight, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked her as they walked down the suburban streets. "Everyone else is coming, you know."

"Slumber party?" It only took a split second for Sakura to remember that today was in fact a special day: it was Tomoyo's birthday. "Oh, gomen! I almost forgot! Of course I'll be there!"

Tomoyo's smile on her face grew bigger. "Ah, Sakura-chan!" She gave her friend a big hug. "Arigatou!"

However, both the girls took no notice of the invisible figure standing on top of the roof of one the houses nearby. Its eyes looked down closely upon the school girls, detecting their red body heat from its sight. It listened to their conversation, and actually understood what they were saying. The language the humans spoke wasn't too difficult to catch upon. The creature listened carefully at their voices and managed to record something they said…

"What time would you like me to come around, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked her friend. "I need to tell father about this."

Tomoyo-chan…the line sounded rather amusing to the creature. It continued to listen to the girls chat away, arranging about tonight's schedule and what fun activities they were planning to do. But then, it got quite a surprise when Sakura lifted her face up to it. It feared that the girl had perhaps caught sight of it standing on the roof…but…

"Sakura-chan. What's wrong?" Tomoyo looked worryingly upon her. She looked like she was feeling unwell or something worse. Sakura had her eyes glued up at the wobbly shape standing on top of a house. The shape looked quite human, yet somehow it looked rather inhuman; it stared at her and it made Sakura feel very disturbed all of a sudden. Sakura couldn't tell if she was hallucinating or not, but she knew that something was up there…a Clow Card? It sounded most unlikely. All of the Clow Cards belonged to her now, and were locked away in the Clow Book.

But if it wasn't a Clow Card…what was it?

Suddenly, Sakura's eyes widened in fear when she saw the shape's eyes flash yellow for a single second. She turned her face back to Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo-chan!" She shouted as she startled her. "Look up there on that roof!" She pointed her finger up onto the roof where she had seen the scary figure…but there was only a black cat in its place…the figure that was once there, had vanished.

When Tomoyo had seen nothing up on the roof, her only response to Sakura was a little chuckle. "Oh, Sakura-chan! You really had me there for a minute!" She commented. "But maybe we should save the jokes all for tonight, ne?"

Sakura could have sworn that something was there.

…

"Moshi, moshi." Sakura picked up the phone.

"It's been a while since I last spoke to you, Sakura." Said the voice on the phone. "I'm sure you know who I am, ne?"

Sakura knew who it was. She knew that the owner of the voice was none other than…

"Eriol?" She said.

"That is I." Eriol responded. "And I must congratulate you on the capture of your last Clow Card, and especially your relationship with Syaoran Li. But that is not why I have called you today…I am here to tell you now, that you and your friends are in grave danger yet again."

"Nani?"

"For the past week, I had sensed a great disturbance from outer space. And it came to my understanding that an extra terrestrial being had set foot upon Earth. So far, I have learned that it has already made its way into Japan….I fear very much now the worst of this situation."

"Eriol, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the monsters that have brought Clow Reed and his family years of terror for so long…they are monsters that have proved most dangerous out of anything Clow has encountered before…these monsters are considered fearless, ferocious, intelligent, crafty, and in many ways unstoppable. They have been after the power of the Clow Cards for a long while, and every attempt has been nothing but a failure for them. But now, another one of its kind has arrived in Tomoeda, to search for the Clow Cards once again…and kill the one who possesses them."

"What are these monsters?"

"They are an alien race from a distant planet…who believe themselves far superior than mankind. And therefore, we mean nothing to them but a sport… They do follow a very strict code of honor…they challenge other dangerous enemies…they believe in an art rooted in the trials of combat and courting of death…and I've learned that they have been coming to this planet for centuries." The last line Eriol said made Sakura turn pale. "I myself had fought these creatures for too long now, and they have become unimaginably stronger by every one I defeat… These aliens keep sending in stronger foes…but today, I feel that this may be their final attempt to claim their prize that they have been longing for nearly forever."

"…"

"I don't want to frighten you, dear Sakura. But you see, I'm afraid that the one we are dealing with now, may be the highest rank of its kind…the most expert hunter."

"What do you mean?"

"A Clan Leader, Sakura. I believe our enemies have sent in their Clan Leader to hunt you down…I have seen this creature move differently from the ones before…it seems far wiser and may very well understand what us humans are saying…I know all this because I've sensed it challenging with your friend, Meiling Li, and she was too outsmarted, and overpowered by it."

"Meiling?!" Sakura cried on the phone.

"Do not despair, she is still alive…the Clan Leader saw that it had come to seek the wrong person…but now it knows where to strike next…it is coming after you."

"I've seen it." Sakura replied after having recalled a recent sighting she witnessed. "I saw it when I was walking back home with Tomoyo. It was camouflaged…but it didn't try to hurt me."

There were seconds of silence on the phone.

"Listen, Sakura. Listen to me very carefully…do you have the Clow Cards with you right now?" Eriol asked anxiously.

"Yes, they're in the Clow book here in my room."

"Keep them with you, Sakura…the Clan Leader has many ways of surprising its victims. It can strike wherever and whenever when you least expect it…do you hear me?"

"Hai."

"Sakura…" Eriol sighed. "…as the Keeper of the Clow Cards, it is your job to protect them with all your life. Do not be afraid when the Clan Leader comes for you, and do not let it defeat you as easily as it defeated Meiling Li. Otherwise the cards shall fall into the wrong hands."

"I understand."

"Very well, then…I wish you luck, Sakura. Just remember to keep your friends close, because you will certainly need their help. But keep your enemies closer, because you'll never know what might happen…"

Eriol hung up the phone while Sakura sat down on her bed, thinking about how to plan things out when she was going to be at Tomoyo's house tonight.

"Sakura. Who were you speaking to on the phone?" Kero asked, sitting beside her.

"Kero-chan." Sakura rolled her eyes around her room. "We are not alone…"


	4. Slumber Party

**_Predator 2_**

**__**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

****

...

Mrs. Sonomi Daidouji had probably overdone herself when she had asked Yukito Tsukishiro and Touya Kinomoto to help out bake Tomoyo's birthday cake, along with a dozen other chefs. She asked them all to make a large chocolate fudge cake for her only but special little girl. Sakura didn't quite like the idea of her brother coming over to Tomoyo's house with her, but with Yukito coming as well, she couldn't start an argument.

All of Tomoyo's friends had come to enjoy her birthday night, all bringing presents and having a wonderful time. Throughout the evening, they talked, played games, and had a wonderful dinner feast…

"Happy birthday to Tomoyo…happy birthday to you!"

A grand applaud was heard in the dining room. Sakura and her friends clapped loudly to congratulate Tomoyo on her eleventh birthday. Mrs. Daidouji's black uniformed bodyguards began filming their cameras around the room non stop, especially when she came up to Tomoyo and rewarded her with a sweet loving kiss on the cheek.

"Happy birthday, dear!" Sonomi said.

…

Later that night, all the children dressed into their pajamas, and were playing pillow fights in Tomoyo's bedroom. Yukito and Touya were busy cleaning up in the kitchen, while Sonomi was there supervising them. Outside, armed bodyguards were patrolling the house, making sure that nothing would come to disturb the party night. But little did they know that something for them had already arrived…actually, it had been waiting around for some time unnoticed.

One of the guards heard a noise in the bushes. "Who's there?" He shouted as he slipped out his black Beretta gun, pointing it to where he detected the noise. "Come on. Come out of those bushes now and nobody will get hurt."

The creature watched the silly guard, pointing his puny weapon at the fluffy plant, from its position way up above on one of the tree's branches. To its point of view, this guard didn't seem too bright.

"Tomoyo-chan?"

Tomoyo's voice uttered out of nowhere. The guard drew his gun away from the bush. "Miss Tomoyo Daidouji, is that you?" But the only answer he got was when three infra-red dots suddenly flashed onto his forehead. "Miss Tomoyo Daidou…"

…

A loud explosion was heard from outside, before it was followed shortly by a soft gurgling sound. Tomoyo and the rest of her friends ceased from their fun pillow fight game. They fell silent and heard guards shouting everywhere around the house. The noise of wild gunfire made the children get down onto the floor instantly, and cover up their ears…they knew that something wasn't right.

"AAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Some of the children started screaming.

"What's going on?" Kero's voice whispered in Sakura's bag. "What's all that noise coming from outside?"

"I have a feeling I might know." Sakura replied. "It's the one that Eriol had warned us of. I knew it'd be a good idea if I brought the Clow Cards and you, Kero-chan. It must have followed our trail into Tomoyo's house."

The voice of Sonomi was heard shouting in the corridor. "What's going on outside?! Why am I hearing gunfire?!"

…

"NO!"

"YAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"

"NOOOO!!!!!!!"

"PLEASE!!!!!!"

"AAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

One by one, Sonomi's guards were being eliminated by the invisible creature. Sonomi stormed out of the house to see what was happening, and received a very big shock. She saw one guard being guttered in the back with a razor sharp wrist blade, and covered her mouth as he was crying and begging with pain, before being hurled upwards into the air…she saw another guard getting her stomach pierced through with a long silver spear, before choking blood out from her mouth and collapsing to the floor…she saw another guard getting his head decapitated clear off by a flying disk that had been thrown out of nowhere…and she saw more of her guards getting killed in the most unbearable manners…but what causing all of this? Sonomi could see no one in her sight. It was like some mysterious ghost hungry for blood.

Eventually, all the guards were dead. Sonomi was the only woman left standing.

"Oh, God…" She felt her heart beat like never before, as she began to recoil back in horror from the sight of her slaughtered bodyguards lying on the ground. The blood oozing out from the bodies began forming multiple blood pools which spoiled the greenness of her grass fields. "Oh, God. This has to be some sick joke."

It wasn't…just a second after that, Sonomi saw some shape approaching her in the shadows' darkness. She could see the stomps of its mighty feet splash into the pools of blood and she could hear the soft growling sound it made…then her legs began to shake, when blue electrical energy began sparkling round the shape's body. And slowly, the shape revealed its true form: two black metallic tentacles stretching down to its knees, whipped out from the creature's cheeks. A large shoulder cannon was attached to its right shoulder, and it held the same silver spear Sonomi saw before, only this time covered in blood. Though it was the creature's black devilish horned mask, that simply scared the living daylights out of her.

"Tomoyo-chan?" The creature said to her.

Sonomi immediately turned her back and ran into the house as fast as she could, locking the door behind her.

…

"Sakura!" Touya burst the door open into Tomoyo's room, only to make the children inside scream even louder than before. Behind him was Yukito, who was quicker enough to find out where Sakura was…crouching in the corner of the room beside her bag, dressed in her blue pajamas.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Yukito asked her when he pulled her up on her feet. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Iie." She shook her head. But then, Sonomi was seen scrambling into the room in great panic…she slammed the door shut and locked it tight. Tomoyo was surprised to see the scared look on her mother's face. Everyone else just paused.

"DON'T GO OUTSIDE, CHILDREN!" She cried as she sprinted her way to the window and locked them too. "Don't go out there! I've just called the police and they should be here very soon. I want all of you in the meantime to stay right where you are and keep yourselves calm, okay? Everything's going to be just fine."

Wrong…

"THE LIGHTS!!!!!!!" The voice of Naoko suddenly cried out from the dark. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIGHTS?!?!?!?!"

"SOMEBODY'S TURNED THEM OFF!!!!!" Chiharu exclaimed next to Yamazaki, wrapping her arms tight around him.

Sakura and Tomoyo could hear Rika crying. "WHAT'S GOING ON!"

The power in the house had been cut off, and all of Tomoyo's friends were beginning to get upset. Kero, now fed up of hiding in Sakura's bag, flew out and saw what was going on. Yukito, Touya and Sakura were close together just behind him. Tomoyo and her friends were scattered all over the room, while Sonomi was frozen standing in the middle of them like a statue.

"What's going on here?" Kero asked himself. "Why has room suddenly gone all pitch black?"

"Everything's going to be just fine." Sonomi mumbled. "Everything's going to be just fine."

Tomoyo heard glass suddenly shatter behind her, when something enormous crashed right through her window. The children screamed once again half to death. They ran from their positions and gathered together in one corner of the room.

"OH NO, LOOK!!! IT'S GOT TOMOYO!!!!!" Yukito pointed his shaking finger at the big tall shadow entering the room.

Tomoyo, unfortunately, wasn't quick enough to escape from the creature coming up from her back.

"AAAAA!!!!!!! LET GO OF ME!!!!!!!!" It grabbed onto Tomoyo's pink night gown and pulled her back as she tried to run away, and all she could do was scream at the top of her voice. "MOMMY!!!!!!!!"

"TOMOYO!" Sonomi shrieked as she came to her daughter's rescue. "LET HER GO, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" She picked up the nearest object she could find: a lamp. Frantically, she whacked the lamp like a baseball bat right into creature's covered face, which made it release its clutches on her daughter.

Tomoyo and her mother quickly ran back to the corner where her friends were waiting for her.

Sonomi's attempted attack on the creature, however, caused no harm on it and it only made it a slightly more annoyed. So after gripping its fearful looking spear with its fingers, it scanned the darkened room with its eyes, searching for the girl it was determined to find. At first, it looked to its left, to see Sonomi, her daughter and the children all packed together, paling before their uninvited visitor. But when it looked to its right, it saw a tall angel and large lion, both with winged, rushing into its direction, ready to attack. The creature took no hesitation to Yue and Kero and simply stretched out its right arm, aiming at them both.

And to Yue's and Kero's surprise, a large net fired out from the creature's arm and trapped them both to the wall. The netting was so tight that none of them were able to move…"UHHHNN!!!!!!!!"…in fact, it electrocuted both, knocking them out at once. And Sakura saw them turn back into their original forms.

"IIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

Sakura didn't realize that she made a big mistake when she drew the creature's attention with her pointless cry. But Touya stepped into the creature's way as it advanced. Using his fists, he tried to swing at it round the head…the attack missed, and he was soon picked up by the creature and hurled into the wall fiercely, knocking him out instantly.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Tomoyo's voice screeched when she saw that Sakura was cornered by the creature.

"Clow…Clow…"

Sakura heard it mutter. She was just about to prepare her staff and use her Clow Cards in her pockets…when…

"NO!" A masculine voice yelled at the creature from behind. "You're going to have to fight me first, if you EVER want to get your claws on Sakura."

The creature turned around…to come eye to eye with Syaoran Li.

"SYAORAN!" Sakura gasped in excitement when she saw that Syaoran Li had returned. He was wearing that same green battle costume that Tomoyo had offered him one month ago…

The creature saw that this boy was a just a waste of its time. Without any warning, it threw its flying disk at him, which was going to target right for Syaoran's neck. Syaoran quickly slipped out his sword and sliced the object in half, and surprised the creature.

He then prepared himself for combat. "You're the one who attacked Meiling…and I've just come to return that favor, you cocksucker." He taunted. The creature snarled angrily at what he called him. "So what are you waiting for? Come get me, unless you're too chicken, birdbrain."

The creature couldn't stand Syaoran's smart attitude and swung its spear on him, but Syaoran easily avoided the attack with his quick feet. The creature then gave Syaoran a series of fast swings with its spear, and Syaoran simply blocked all its attacks with his sword. When it was his turn to make some moves, Syaoran jumped forwards and swung his sword upon the creature, but quite surprisingly it too was smart enough to avoid every attack he made. And when the creature saw an instant where Syaoran had just swung his last move leaving him temporarily vulnerable, it used the butt of its spear to knock the sword out of his hands.

Syaoran wasn't giving up there, though. He somersaulted backwards when the creature gave another swing with its spear, and counterattacked with a flying kick right into its face. The creature fell over onto its back…as its black mask went flying off its face and landed right in front of Tomoyo and her friends.

"AAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" They all screamed once more and held onto each other when they saw the creature's lifeless mask, staring back at them.

Sakura saw the creature get back up on its feet in no time at all…but this time, sans his mask. Everyone in the room feasted their eyes upon the hideous and grotesque face of the creature…

"God in Heaven." Tomoyo shook her head and covered her mouth in case she thought she was to about scream unexpectedly. Sonomi simply shut her eyes and fainted at the creature's horrific glance upon her. But Sakura felt a chill running up her spine…when the creature turned and gazed into her face, scowling at her with those yellow beady eyes.

"Clow…" The creature discarded its spear by tossing it away. It took out its right arm, opening up its wrist blade attached to it, and marched furiously towards the Keeper of the Clow Cards.

"BAKA!" Syaoran came running up from behind the creature. But he was punished with his foolish move when the creature quickly turned back on him and slammed him hard in the face its left fist. The impact made Syaoran fall to the ground with a great thump…before blood began to bleed out from his nose. "Iie…"

"GRAAA!!!" The creature then picked up Syaoran before he could fully recover, and fiercely tossed him over into one of Tomoyo's large mirrors on the wall, shattering the glass to pieces. Syaoran was unable to get up anymore…he had received far too many injuries from the sheds of glass.

"Run…Sakura…" Syaoran whispered…before he fell unconscious.

Sakura knew that she was in for it, this time. The creature continued to advance towards her…but then, the strangest thing happened at that moment. The creature halted when it heard the sound of police sirens from outside of the house. The volume grew louder and it somehow warned the creature that something was coming, and perhaps now was not a good time to find out what it was. Sakura saw it turn the opposite direction and look out from the broken window from whence it came. It stared up into the dark blue sky, growling to itself. Then, turning its head to make one last look at Sakura, it suddenly lifted its feet off the ground and shot up high into the sky like a speeding bullet.

The creature had left.


	5. Preparation

**_Predator 2_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

…

"Eriol never told me that this one could fly." Sakura said, helping Syaoran bandage up his left arm inside the ambulance van.

It was good news that the police and paramedics had come just in time to save everyone's bacon. All the children had been returned safely back to their homes with their parents. But it was bad news that the creature had escaped and was still on the loose. News reporters, policemen, detectives and doctors were rampaging all over Tomoyo's house…indeed, her birthday night had been ruined.

"Sakura…" Tomoyo asked her friend uneasily. "…what in the world was that…thing?"

"Something that's been after Sakura and her cards for a long while." Syaoran answered the question for her. "It nearly killed Meiling, and it nearly killed me too. Nothing can ever stop it…it moves way too fast for me to handle…ow."

"Gomen." Sakura carefully set some healing cream onto Syaoran's cut forehead, before placing a bandage on top of it. "Syaoran…I want to thank you for saving us from that monster…but why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Hong Kong?"

"Why should I be?" He replied rather fumingly. "I wanted to find the monster that hurt my cousin…so I traveled back here alone."

"Then, how did you know it was going to come here?"

"Your friend Eriol called me at your house when I came looking for you, there…your father also told me where you were staying. So I rushed here as soon as I could." Syaoran felt the stinging pain in his arm when he tried to stand up. "Uhn…baka…I must find it…"

"Syaoran, don't." Sakura settled him back down. "You're not fully healed."

Syaoran gave a deep sigh…Sakura was right. "Iie…this is hopeless. Who knows what it might be up to next?"

The three children sat together quietly in grief.

"That does it!" Sakura broke the silence and stormed up onto her feet. "I'm not going to lounge around like a sitting duck and let that thing get away after what it's done…let me track down that monster for you, Syaoran!"

"Nani?" Syaoran looked at her muddled.

"If that thing wants to challenge me and claim my cards, then it's a challenge he'll get." Sakura took out all of her Clow Cards from her pocket. "I'll teach it a lesson he won't ever forget."

…

The three of them had left the scene of Tomoyo's house, and had taken cover into a small forest, not far away. Tomoyo seemed quite excited about Sakura's decision to fight the creature. She had kindly given her the pink battle costume that she wore once from last month…when hunting down the last Clow Card.

"Arigatou, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura came out from the trees and stepped into the moon light, armed with her staff and all dressed up for her battle. "I won't rest until I find that monstrous beast that hurt you and my friends…this has gone too far."

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo was filming her with another one of her cameras. "You look so much better than you did when you last wore this costume! You really do look cuter!"

"Hoe…" Sakura's face blushed red with embarrassment.

"Sakura." Syaoran limped towards her. "Before you go, please take this."

Syaoran slipped out his Chinese sword and handed it over to her.

"Syaoran…" Sakura went speechless…she had never been given his sword to fight. "…your sword…doushite?"

"If everything else happens to fail, don't forget that you'll always have this up your sleeve." He gave a smile and winked at her with good luck. "Be careful, Sakura-chan. Remember that you are challenging yourself with one of the most experienced alien hunters in the whole galaxy. So do not underestimate its power and strength, no matter what."

"I understand, Syaoran." Sakura answered…as she closed up on Syaoran and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek with her lips. "Arigatou…and thank you for coming back to Tomoeda."

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo began to cry…she couldn't tell if this was to be the last time that she would ever see her again. "Please don't let that thing terrorize any more people."

"I won't, Tomoyo-chan." She gave her friend comfort with a big hug. "I won't…I promise."

With everything set, Sakura was ready to take to the sky and find the creature once and for all. She knew it was hiding somewhere…but it wouldn't be hiding for much longer. Tonight was the time to settle matters personally, and Sakura wasn't scared; she had saved Tomoeda once from a dangerous Clow Card, and now she had to face a being far more cunning than anything ever imaginable.

"FLY!" Sakura struck her staff onto the Fly Card. Angelic wings grew out from her back, and she ascended up high into the starlight sky. Syaoran and Meiling watched her leave and wished her all of their best luck to her.

"Do you think she'll do it?" Tomoyo asked Syaoran.

"If you believe so…I believe so."


	6. The Hunt Ends

**_Predator 2_**

**__**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

****

…

It must have been several hours now since she left her friends. Sakura flew across acres of green forests in the countryside of Japan…holding her staff in her left hand, and Syaoran's sword on the other, still searching for the creature that wanted her head.

"Where can it be?" Sakura muttered, looking down closely at the trees and lakes. "I swore I heard something suspicious around here somewhere." The only creatures she could see were the ones of nature…deer, owls, frogs, fish, fireflies…but nothing out of the ordinary.

Until…

"Clow!" The devilish voice spoke out from the trees…and before Sakura could take any action, she felt two metallic pairs of tentacles fasten round her legs. They pulled her down into the forest, where the creature was standing.

"AAAAA!!!!" Sakura squealed as the creature's tentacles threw her about the place, hitting her hard against the solid wood of the trees. She heard the creature's thunderous roar as it whacked her around more and more…until finishing her off by throwing her bruised up body into a small shallow lake with a splash.

"Arrrr…" The creature marched towards the lake to see if its opponent was either still alive or had bitten the dust. Obviously, the former was the correct answer, and it had expected it. Sakura jumped right out of the lake as the creature made a big leap back. She landed right onto her feet, directly in front of the creature, and prepared herself to take out another Clow Card. But just when she could have, the creature hastily aimed its shoulder cannon onto Sakura's left arm. Targeting the red dots on her moving shoulder, and it fired a bright blue fireball at it…only to miss slightly. Instead, the shot had managed to scrape Sakura's arm severely, making her drop her staff and clutch her fatal wound.

"UUHNNN!!!!!!" Sakura went down on one knee, as her arm began to spurt out some blood. However, she made an effort to stretch over for her staff, lying a few inches away from her. The creature stomped over to the staff and picked it up before she could reach it. It stared demonically at her and simply threw the useless stick away into one of the bushes close by…it made Sakura most annoyed. "SHINEEEE!" She screamed out in rage, stood up, and was about to slice down the creature's head in half with Syaoran's sword…but alas, the creature caught the blade between its two of fingers before it could strike its head. Sakura struggled to push the sword downwards onto the creature, but its resistance was too strong for her to overcome. The creature fought back by slapping Sakura hard in the face with one its tentacles, making her disarm her sword, which fell into the other tentacle's grip.

"IIEE!!!" Syaoran's sword went flying into the shallow lake behind her and sank to the bottom…Sakura had no more weapons to fight with. The only thing she was able to do now was dodge every attack her deadly foe was about to make. It armed its wrist blade and charged full on towards her. Sakura swiftly moved leftwards and rightwards, jumped and ducked, somersaulted and flipped, and tried her best to predict every move that the creature was going to make upon her. She also thanked herself for all the gym lessons she had taken in school, because they seriously helped her in this tough situation…but it soon proved to be not enough to outsmart the creature. For after a minute of skilful dodging, Sakura began to run out of steam…and it made her much more open for attack. The creature at last got its luck by swinging its sharp blades across Sakura's right leg, tearing off part of her clothing and her skin. "AAAA!!!!!" Sakura fell down on one knee once again, and this time, the creature gave her no time to recover.

It swung back its left fist and uppercut her up her face, making her fly backwards and crash land onto the muddy ground. Sakura, a little knocked up from the blow, tried to get up again. The creature got to her first, though, and lifted her up by the collars of her shirt…and sneered at her.

"Baka…" Sakura said when she looked disgustedly at her enemy. She rudely spat into the creature's eye with saliva mixed with blood. The creature roared savagely at her…

"RAAAAAA!!!!!" …and paid its respects back by head butting her face several times…until it was convinced that she had enough. It then threw her back into the lake with yet another splash.

The beaten up Sakura sank down to the bottom of the lake, half unconscious. For a moment, her mind was asking her why she was risking her life and limb in this endless fight…it seemed like a blur to her for a few moments…but then, she knew the reason: she had to show these alien hunters just how strong the Keeper of the Clow Cards really is. And if she ever wanted to prove that, she had to overcome this battle and slay their Clan Leader…

So she fiddled her hands around the sand and soil on the bed of the lake, searching for anything that she could hold onto and use on the creature when it was going to pick her up again. And to her delight, she did in fact find something…Syaoran's sword. By the time she got her hand upon it, she heard the creature's tentacles dive into the lake and curl around her neck. The poor girl began choking for air as she was quickly taken out from the water and brought back face to face with the creature once again. The creature began tightening its grip round Sakura's neck, hoping to make the girl suffer a slow death. But it didn't seem to notice Sakura's right arm wrapped around her back, where she was secretly holding Syaoran's sword firmly in her hand.

"Clow…Clow!...CLOW!!!!!!" The creature screeched. Sakura instantly took out her sword and stabbed the creature right into the center of its heart. "RAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Sakura was dropped from its clutches and watched the creature stagger back screaming like crazy, with the sword stuck deep into its chest. She got on her feet and limped towards the creature, taking the sword's handle. She pulled it out at once, ignoring the creature's green blood splattering onto her face and body, and gave all of she had left…she sliced the sword around its neck, decapitating its head off completely.

The headless creature collapsed to the ground.

Looking down at the fallen monster, Sakura dropped her sword with relief, and fell onto her bottom panting… "Yadda…" She whispered, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "…yadda."

…

A few minutes had flown by. She could hear the crickets of the night, making their noisy chirps around her. The wind had stopped blowing and Sakura could no longer feel it. She looked up at the bright full moon…and realized just what a wonderful night it was to be in this nature. There was no longer going to be anymore fighting around these areas…there was nothing else more that Sakura could worry about tonight…she just wanted to sit back and relax right where she was.

But then, a giant spotlight shone onto her from above. Sakura looked up to see an odd shaped spacecraft descending down into the forest near her. It landed softly onto the grass, and the main door opened up slowly. At first, nothing seemed to be coming out of the ship, except fumes of white smoke…but from out of nowhere, several masked aliens uncloaked themselves and stepped out, surrounding Sakura, who saw that these aliens were of the same kind that she had just killed. But these seemed to look more like warriors and normal hunters, as they were dressed differently and not as well armed with weapons like the Clan Leader. And none of them had tentacles sticking out from their cheeks.

The aliens gathered round Sakura and lifted her up by her tired arms. Sakura struggled to free herself from the aliens' grip at once. But then she saw what she thought looked like the High Priest, making its way out of the ship towards her with a couple of unmasked aliens following from behind. The High Priest, unlike the other aliens around it, was armed with some deadly looking sword in its hands. Sakura became frightened now and shut her eyes tight…it seemed like the aliens were just about to make an act of execution upon their Clan Leader's killer.

But then again, looks were deceiving.

Sakura opened her eyes after a few silent moments, and saw that the High Priest was in fact offering the sword to her. It knelt down on its knees, and presented its offering upon its open hands and its head bowed down to her. Sakura timidly reached her arm out for the sword and took it by the handle, picking it right off from the High Priests' hands…she looked at the sword closely, and saw that it was an ancient Samurai sword, engraved with Japanese words on the shiny silver blade.

The unmasked aliens went to pick up the Clan Leader's head and body and carried it back to the ship. The High Priest turned its back on Sakura without uttering a word, and returned back into the ship along with the other aliens, who cloaked themselves up again and silently followed. The door of the ship closed up, the ship began to lift itself off from the ground…and it disappeared into the stars in space.

…

Sakura went to retrieve Syaoran's sword, and her staff sticking out from a bush. And she simply sat by the lake, laying back on the green grass and looking at the Samurai sword she held in her hands…it was beautiful. She couldn't believe that this was all over now…the Clan Leader had been killed…and the aliens had now at last learned that they could never claim power over the cards made by Clow Reed…because they were too scared of the one that protected them.

_"They are an alien race from a distant planet…who believe themselves far superior than mankind. And therefore, we mean nothing to them but a sport… They do follow a very strict code of honor…they challenge other dangerous enemies…they believe in an art rooted in the trials of combat and courting of death…and I've learned that they have been coming to this planet for centuries."_

Sakura couldn't help now but smile joyously…she even began to giggle to herself, as she imagined the faces upon those aliens back home when they would hear that their Clan Leader got beaten by a little Japanese girl.

…

**_The End_**


End file.
